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DA: Man on Orange Line goes on anti-Muslim tirade, smacks woman with umbrella, knocks out window

A woman wearing a head scarf on the Orange Line came under attack Monday night by a man who started screaming anti-Muslim slurs at her and hit her in the back with an umbrella before using his fists and feet to knock out a window, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Sean Devlin, 34, was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 bail on charges of violating a person's civil rights, making a false bomb threat and malicious destruction of property over $250, the DA's office says. Should he make bail, he will have to stay away from the victim, the witnesses and all MBTA vehicles. Devlin listed two addresses: One in North Reading, the other of a Boston substance-abuse treatment center.

According to the DA"s office, the woman and Devlin were on an inbound car approaching North Station around 10:45 p.m.:

Prosecutors told the court that Devlin was onboard an inbound Orange Line train Monday night when he allegedly began shouting anti-Muslim slurs at a 61-year-old woman wearing a headscarf and making false accusations about her having a bomb that would “kill us all.” The victim and a witness both told responding Transit Police officers that Devlin hit the woman in the back with an umbrella, prosecutors said, for which he could face additional charges.

Devlin then allegedly kicked and punched a window of the train car until it shattered.

Transit Police arrested him at North Station. They found three small liquor bottles on him and that had warrants for misdemeanor offenses in Woburn, Somerville and Lowell, the DA's office reports.

In a statement, DA Dan Conley said:

Behavior like this is inexcusable. I want to commend the MBTA passengers, personnel, and others who reported and responded to it. There's no place for hate in Boston or Suffolk County.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

Making America Great Again.

Can we deport this guy to Deploristan and keep the Irish electrician?

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Go find out what 'news' outlets the suspect listened to. See if anything they said constitutes inciting violence or hate crimes.

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Unfortunately Boston cannot deport heroin addicts to Quincy any longer.

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Long island is in the city of boston

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"Devlin listed two addresses: One in North Reading, the other of a Boston substance-abuse treatment center."
"They found three small liquor bottles on him and that had warrants for misdemeanor offenses in Woburn, Somerville and Lowell..."

Given a train station or outside traffic, he could have pushed her just about anywhere, with horrible results.

Sounds to me like he's one of the classic addicts that have generated a bit of discussion here lately.

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.

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Is #Trumpland a thing of the past? I didn't receive the memo......

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"There is no place for hate in Boston or Suffolk county". Conley is a comedian and just another non person of color (there plenty p.o.c who agree with this)who spews this drivel but has no intent on attempting to make this statement plausible.

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Just for a sake of argument, if you were in the position of Mr. Conley, what would you do?

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I have experienced something similar recently, when a man on the Orange Line started berating two women, who as far as I could tell may or may not have even been Muslim. Fortunately, in that case, he was far too drunk to be much of a threat. I was glad to see that people around, including myself, stood up to him.

There certainly seems to be a pattern developing. It's important to speak up for people who are bullied or attacked. Everyone deserves to be able to ride on public transit and feel safe.

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But what if they have a gun or knife or stun gun or etc., etc.? I'm sorry, but I'm not confronting someone like that. I'm taking my children off the train quickly or down to the other end of the train. Someone like that will not hesitate to use a weapon.

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I think everyone has to make a decision based on their personal circumstances at the time. If I'd had kids with me it certainly would have changed the equation. But not everyone does. Let me amend my earlier suggestion to say that we should all stand up for each other whenever we can. I'm sure that's the kind of culture you want your children growing up in, right?

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MA discourages self help, until that time the only persons defense I will come to is my loved ones.

Get assaulted and your going to end up in cuffs half the time.

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Then instead of confronting the person, call 911 once you can do it discreetly.

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I've got kids, and while the best thing for my family might well be to ape your suggestion, I doubt that I would.

But look, both are okay. If you've got vulnerable people in your care (young, infirmed, etc.), getting them out of harm's way is a legit action for sure.

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A caring denize can take simple action to create a physical barrier between the target/victim and the perpetrator. Put yourself between the perp and the victim. Engage the victim in everyday conversation about the weather or something. This typically aids in de-escalation. Confronting the perp is not advisable.

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Thankfully, I've yet to be in this position, but this article seemed to make a ton of sense:
http://www.upworthy.com/remember-this-comic-the-next-time-you-witness-is...

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As someone who has a ton of Muslim friends.. I totally have used this before. Its a good tactic, especially for Muslim Women who tend to shy away from confrontation.

It works and works well. I've done this. And you'll get a smile and a thank you when you're done.

I do not tolerate this crap on public transit. I've personally thrown people off of buses and subway cars because they were annoying (and TPD is useless). No tolerance for harassment on the T.

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Not bad, but I would still be afraid to take the risk in case the person was violent. If I sat down next to the victim and started a conversation with the guy standing right there, you cannot safely predict that the guy would feel "ignored" and walk away. That's just me (I want to live and don't want to be harmed). The victim should get up and walk away, too. Not smart to stay there.

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That's just me (I want to live and don't want to be harmed).

No argument here, but if you want to live and not be harmed, at some point, in some way, you will have to stand up to aggressors.

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Yet another reminder that Boston is still very much "a flea market of racism," as Bill Russell once said.

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but remember this guy was from North Reading, not Boston.

Unfortunately racist trash comes into our city and gives it a bad name.

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The MBTA police and UHub usually post one in the case of lesser infractions.

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The Suffolk County District Attorney's office, where this account came from, usually doesn't provide photos of suspects.

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Guy: "I hate this woman so much, I'm going to punish her by .... umm .... punching out the window, inconveniencing the other commuters by putting the train out of service, and sticking the taxpayers for the repair bill. Yeah, that'll show her."

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Judging by his past, he has been "sticking it" to the Commonwealth for a while now. What's a few more dollars?

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Why do some white people feel like they have the right to demean others? Or put another way, why do SOME (need to be clear that it is not all) white people feel as if they are better than others? I mean that's what leads to things like this right? Why do some white people walk around like their shhh don't stink?

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Heroin addicts are prone to crazy.

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Why do some brown people feel the need to demean others?

Why do some black people feel the need to demean others?

Why do some asian people feel the need to demean others?

Why do some middle eastern people feel the need to demean others?

Why do some indian people feel the need to demean others?

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The one common thread among most violent acts is men who can't seem to get their heads on right.

What the hell is wrong with men lately? More prone to violence it seems. Men who are in their 20's cause much mayhem, imho.

Men, get your act together.

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if it makes you feel better.

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I wondered why the bail was set at the level it was…apparently at the time of his arrest by the Transit Police, the suspect had warrants for misdemeanor offenses in Woburn, Somerville and Lowell. A quick check (not complete) came up with 3 immediate hits on a Sean P. Devlin of North Reading. Without assuming this is absolutely the same individual, his name and age do match the person arrested in the current incident.

July 2008 - The Reading Police Department arrested a Sean P. Devlin of 36 Main St., North Reading, and charged him with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He allegedly stabbed an 18-year-old Revere man in the nose with a knife inside a residential dwelling.

Sep 2008 - Sean P. Devlin of North Reading was arrested in Wilmington for driving under the influence of alcohol, having no inspection sticker.

March 2010 - Sean P. Devlin of North Reading was arrested “smash and grab” thefts at three Burlington stores. Devlin sub sequentially admitted to similar thefts in Medford and Danvers. He told police the items were pawned at a number of pawn shops in Woburn, Malden and Lynn.

A more extensive check is likely to reveal more of the same

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